A South Sound history through words and pictures
100 YEARS AGO TODAY: OCT. 30, 1912
The Northern Pacific railway will double-track its line across the Cascade Mountains from Lester on this side to Easton on the east side, according to an announcement this morning of George T. Reid, assistant to the president, and E.C. Blanchard, general manager of the western division of the Northern Pacific. The work, which probably will be done by contract, will be started as soon as the arrangements can be made. It is planned to rush the construction as much as possible in order to relieve the congestion on this portion of the Northern Pacific’s trackage.
75 YEARS AGO TODAY: OCT. 30, 1937
An inquest into the deaths of four victims of an airplane crash at Tacoma Field recently not only failed to determine whether anyone was to blame for the accident, but the verdict of the coroner’s jury returned Thursday afternoon left in its wake a group of puzzled officials who said they did not understand what it meant. Cause of the crash still remains a mystery. The text of the verdict, which was reached after the jurors had listened to the testimony of nearly a score of witnesses, follows: “We, the undersigned jury, find Mr. Walker, as owner of the plane in question, guilty of criminal negligence in failing to testify before this jury as to the air worthiness of the airship in question and we of the jury go on record as to finding the testimony inadequate, have no testimony from any ‘government inspector,’ or from any of the victims.”
50 YEARS AGO TODAY: OCT. 30, 1962
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson said today that 10,000 more blacks are holding important jobs in the federal government than when President John F. Kennedy took office in January 1961. “This has not been because this administration wanted to appoint anyone on any other basis than the highest ideals of this government – equal opportunity,” Johnson said. Johnson spoke as he swore in Lewis S. Flagg III, a black attorney from Brooklyn, N.Y., as an associate solicitor in the Interior Department. In the $16,000-a-year post, Flagg succeeds Gordon Bennett, who resigned to become a candidate for Supreme Court judge in Montana.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.